Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-08-25
ABOUT COSMETICS.
Ciea nlineSs IL the One Absolute
and Universal Cosmetic.
From Harper's Bazaar.

Never was there such climate as
ours. To-day a polar wind rushcs
shivering from the frozen north over
leagues of snow to shrivel Aramintha's
delicate skin and force the blood to
the chilled surface, till its fine red and
white are purple; tomorrow the ar
tilted nose; next day a vicious zephyr
sweeps up the gritty dust of the pave
ment in great swirls and eddies, rush.
ing it into her face like some malicious
imp of the air; then follows an unex-
pected flood, giving her wet clothes, a
cold and indigestion, and resultant
pimples. And these vagaries precede
months of dry, parching heat, that
leaves legacy of tan sunburn and
freckles.
As if the odds against beauty were
not heavy enough, these foes without
are reinforced by foes within. Fur
mace heat and fiaring gas, bad ventila-
ton, late hours, and late suppers, all
injure the delicacy of the skin. An
American woman past thirty who has
kept the bloom and brillancy of her
girlhood is almost as rare as the dodo.
In this extremity it is not strange
that women look to cosmetics to repair
the ravages of climate and custom,
and that the use of these hazardous al
lies is rapidly increasing. Gotgeous
"parlors" abound in our large cities
where to proprietary spiders allure
the silly flies Of fashion that buzz and
shine only to be seen. In these re-
treats a whole new outfit OF beauty
may be purchased cheap for cash. A
new bust, newly tapered fingers with
practically new nails, new hair, new
eyebrows, new feet, and brand-new
complexion, are few of the tempting
wares offered. The fountain of youth
is now bottled, labelled and sold at
retail in small quantities. Newspa-
pers spread knowledge of this indus
try to the farthest hamlet, and Alaska
and Arizona send orders for Beauty's
Benefaction and Cleopatra's Complex
ion Cream.
If it were only question of money
wasted and folly enlightened it would
not be worth while to preach upon
this text, perhaps. But probably nine
out of every ten of the cosmetics in
the market are positively harmful.
White lead, bismuth, arsenic and
other powerful poisons are the usual
base. They impart for time an arti-
fetal bloom, always followed by a
darkening and coarsening OF the grain
of the skin. The habitual use of ar
senic in pills, waters or solutions re-
suits in a disturbance Of the circula-
ton, a weakened action of the heart,
and not seldom in paralysis.
The Egyptian and Roman ladies,
who were SO famous for their beauty
of complexion, are said, indeed, to
have used pastes and ungunts and
medicated baths. But it is probable
that their cosmetics were of the
simplest, the equivalent OF our harm
less rose-water and glycerine for the
soothing of an irritated surface or the
whitening of the hands. 1t is certain
that the efficacy of the bath lay in
their frequency and thoroughness. To
an Egyptian princess or Roman
mobiles wife, we moderns, with on
mornings hasty dip into u tub of
tepid water, would rank with the
great unwashed. From the scalding
and ringing and scraping and rubbing
end kneading and oiling that their
bathing involved they came forth with
skins of velvet, because every atom of
waste was removed and every organ
in the body was maintained at its full
eliminative power. They changed
their body-linen every day as well,
and by this scrupulous cleanliness Off
set in some degree their sins against
the stomach.
Among moderns, English women as
a rule, possess in youth and keep till
age the finest compilations. Their
climate is kind to them. Its perpet-
ual moisture seems to keep them in
perpetual bloom as it does their won
derful roses. But besides their
climate, their customs favor them.
English girls are kept in the nursery
or the school-room, free from the
excitement of late hours, rich food,
adult society, fashionable dress or
habits, till their constitutions are
established and their physique de-
veloped. The simple food, daily
bath, hours spent out-of-doors, on
foot or on horseback, and uneventful
life, give them sound stomachs,
hearty livers, and tranquil nerves, and
the beautiful coloring is matter OF
course.
1t cannot be said too strongly that
health is the only safe renovator of
the complexion. Cleanliness is the
one universal cosmetic. And if the
women of this generation have lost
their freshness through carclessness
or ignorance, or spite of climate, they
can, at least, rear their daughters to
preserve that inheritance of beauty to
which most Americans are born.